League Points!

After the euphoria of a Irish cup semi-final win it's back to the bread and butter of league points this Saturday as United travel to Coleraine to take on the scum. Its fair to say we haven't been stamping our authority on the derby fixtures between us for a number of seasons, but we have the chance to right that wrong this Saturday, if we avoid defeat against the scum. The IFA aren't helping our cause, as we have two players suspended for this fixture, Jimer and Tony, both will be sadly missed.

If that's not enough to curb your enthusiasm, Archie, JT and Thommo are all injured and Darboy is unavailable due to the ridiculous agreement that was negotiated by the 'diving bird', Kearney before he would let Darboy's registration go through. The United first team panel will take a bit of wallop, that's six players missing and I fully expect our keeper Shan, to get rested as he was against Dungannon. Will Fergie be as bold as he was against the Swifts and drop all of his starting line-up of last Saturday's semi-final? I sincerely hope not, this game means almost as much to 'dyed in wool' supporters, as did last Saturday's triumph over Queens.

So I for one will be hoping for the minimum disruption to the team as is possible, bearing in mind that we can't afford to risk anyone who's not 100% fit. For last Saturday's encounter with Queens, we had a surprise hero in Alan D and its performances like that we expect from him, but it only happens occasionally. This Saturday we will need somebody else to step up to the plate and I fervently hope its my favourite player, Cush, who has been strangely withdrawn of late. But Cush knows what is expected of him when we play the scum and I expect him to deliver the goods this Saturday.

Last Saturday Mark Kelly, came on as a sub with 3 mins to go and got his first senior goal for the Sky Blues and I fully expect him to get the nod from the start this week. Two other fringe players could get a start in Sparky and Gavin, Sparky in defence and Gavin in midfield. Could Cookie Munster play his 100th game in a United jersey against the scum, or will Glenn make him wait for that milestone for another day. We need to be up for this one as the scum are not immune to the dogfight for the play-off place, but a win for them could make them virtually safe, but we have got to stop them achieving that safety net COSB